Gibraltar to Lanzarote and back

Gibraltar – that outpost of Little England that enjoys a Mediterranean climate. Tunbridge Wells-on-Sea, almost. Somehow walking into Marks & Sparks when surrounded by palm trees doesn’t quite compute. And yet it’s a great place to learn to sail, offering tidal waters, giving access to three countries on two continents – and you’ll see almost every maritime light combination that exists in the bustling Gibraltar Bay.

The photos here come from a trip to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands and back – two passages that are technically deemed ocean passages, running parallel with the coast of Africa past Casablanca. Five days and nights at sea each way, night watches and sunrises, fishermen trying to sell their wares to you – at fifty miles offshore, pods of dolphins playing around the bow of the boat, a whale spouting water half a mile off (too close!)…